If You Can't Beat Them
by 0toxicbites0
Summary: Naruto x Suicide Squad Crossover. Haruno Sakura finds herself in an unfortunate position, thrown into a strange new world and forced to band together with a bunch of misfits and criminals. Oh, wouldn't Naruto be so proud of her now. Sakura centric.
1. Chapter 1

**If You Can't Beat Them**

* * *

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own any of the characters from the Naruto and DC universe.

 **Prompt** : Naruto x Suicide Squad Crossover. Haruno Sakura finds herself in an unfortunate position, thrown into a strange new world and forced to band together with a bunch of misfits and criminals. Oh, wouldn't Naruto be so proud of her now. Sakura centric.

'Thoughts'

 _'Speaking in Japanese'_

* * *

There's nothing but silence as the pinkette started to stir. Immediately that caused alarm bells to ring in her mind, even if she was slightly relieved for the uninterrupted sleep from her disruptive teammates.

Normally, she would be greeted by the obnoxious sight of his orange jumpsuit—not the mention the rambunctious shouting from Naruto about another mission as he helped himself to the contents of her fridge. The morning routine that she shared with her teammates was almost repetitive in that sense, at least whenever she had the morning off. Which was hardly ever, especially with her long shifts at the hospital.

However, the longer she seemed to wait, the eerier of the silence only grew.

Perhaps the blond was occupying himself with a spot of early morning training. That wasn't something out of the norm for him to do, he was compulsively obsessed with always becoming stronger by learning a new technique or some sort.

Sakura took a moment to recollect her somewhat relaxed day planned, meeting up with Ino for some lunch in the afternoon— _no doubt her friend would try to sneak in a shopping trip somewhere._ If she bumped into Rock Lee, given that he had returned from his most recent mission, there would most probably be an impromptu training session.

Although their friendship didn't have the best start, his crush eventually wavered into a brotherly affection. He had an abundance of energy that helped motivate her to work harder. Though there were moments when she had to suppress the urges to strangle him with his pep talks, knowing that he meant well.

She had better friendships than when she graduated from the Academy, having grown from her borderline obsession with her teammate Sasuke. It no longer clouded her judgement, though without the necessary wake-up call she so desperately needed she would not have had the drive to become stronger.

The pinkette stretched her arms over her head, only to note how limited her arms would reach out. She frowned as she tried once more, only thing time to hear a rattling sound which echoed though her room.

She tried to keep her nerves at bay, taking a deep breath before opening her eyes. However, nothing but darkness assaulted her vision. The unsettling feeling at the pit of her stomach only flourished wildly as she tried to rack through her memory of being kidnapped yet came up short.

Sakura wasn't feeling too optimistic that this was simply just a dream.

The door opened, thus cutting through her train of thought as a voice called out gruffly. "Rise and shine, inmate."

The next thing she knows is that she's surrounded, the poorly lit room with the outdoor light streaming in allowed her to get a look around. She could feel something being injected into her arm before the chains tying her to the wall were released.

The following sequences went by in a blur, though she could vaguely feel being manhandled by the guards until she was pushed to sit in an empty room as another pair of handcuffs were roughly attached to her wrists. There was hushed voices, shuffling of feet followed by the harsh shutting of the door until the room became quiet.

She blinked groggily. It took a long time before she managed to muster up the energy to glance around, she got the impression that this was some sort of interrogation room.

"Good morning, Miss Haruno. I won't waste much time here, so I'll get right to it." A faceless voice resounded, bouncing off the walls. She tried to look around to gather her bearings, however the simple movement only sufficed to drive the pounding of her head to the centre point of attention. No matter how she tried to clear her vision, her attempts were futile as it remained blurry and unclear.

"You will be transferred in the morning where you will be briefed of your mission. If you even try to escape or become violent, the guards accompanying you will not hesitate to kill you. Do you understand me?"

The pinkette's head was bowed, her eyes unfocused. She barely managed to catch the meaning of what was being said to her, acknowledging that this was a foreign language yet for some unknown reason she was able to decipher it. She wetted her lips before a breathy laugh escaped through.

"…How vague. What makes you think I'll cooperate with you when you can't even face me like the backboneless coward you are?" She spat out, her narrowed eyes looked around aimlessly until she spotted a camera in the left corner.

"I'm under no obligation to tell you anything. I could just leave you to rot in that prison cell for the rest of your sentence." Was the cutthroat reply, though she knew that this lady wouldn't be wasting her own time if she didn't think she needed Sakura.

"Then _please_ , by all means. Leave me to rot in peace without your boring ass voice hassling me." She made sure to smile brightly at the camera, the grin plastered across her face hitched up further as she heard hushed laughter poring through the speakers before silence was upon her again.

"I am aware that you are not from this world," She started, her tone clipped and nothing less than professional. "While I cannot guarantee you to be able to return to your land, there is the possibility that someone under my control may be able to help you."

"Here's the thing, no matter what you're going to promise I know it's all going to be bullshit in the end. You think I'm some idiot who's gonna believe in what you're saying?" She scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief. Although there was part of her that desired nothing more than to go back to her home, she had to remain realistic about her actual chances here. It was no good trying to convince herself with lies that would only drive to make her past the point of insanity.

"You're not the first smartass I've had to deal with and you certainly won't be the last. Regardless of whether you can return home, your sentence will be wiped so you have the chance to create a new life for yourself." She gritted her teeth, feeling her resolve slipping. She could not break so easily, not knowing whether she could even trust the words that this woman was saying.

"So I'll ask one more time, this is your final chance Miss Haruno. Will you agree to cooperate?" Deep down, she was aware of the inner Naruto pestering her in her mind. To not give up on the idealistic hope that he often preached. Hell, if the real blond was here with her, he would not have even hesitated in accepting the deal—no matter how small the chances were of getting home. Because somehow, even if she struggles to believe how he manages to pull it off, he always finds a way.

"If you break this deal, I'll make sure to find you and break your neck. Then bring you back just to kill you again." Sakura hoped to whatever God there was out there that she wasn't making a grave mistake here.

* * *

She already regretted her decision the moment she made it.

The following morning, she hardly slept a wink. Not because of anything related to nerves, but a combination of factors—her neighbours seemed to be hell bent on making sure they made as much noise as possible without getting in trouble. She couldn't even remember the last time she had a proper meal, let alone a small snack to keep her going as she barely managed to keep the slop that was served through her door from coming back again. Sakura couldn't comprehend how she slept on the mattress for however long she was even out for, if that's what it was supposed to be.

From the second the guards invaded her cell, ensured that the handcuffs were firmly attached and escorted her to the waiting vehicle outside the prison compound, the journey zapped by in a blur. Though, that's probably because she fell asleep more than a couple of times. When she snapped open her eyes, she could notice the guards sitting on either side of her tensing. As if they were anticipating that she would awake not as herself but a wolf in sheep's clothing.

The blonde was the first to notice the new arrival, her eyes widened as she squealed. There was something about the way her eyes glinted, it was beyond the point of being manic. "Finally we get some fresh meat in this dump!"

"Lookie what we have here, a delicate little rose." A scruffy man hollered over, given by his tall stature he would easily tower over her as she noticed with badly veiled revulsion that his eyes roaming over her body appraisingly. "Are you sure you're at the right place, darlin'?"

"What is that supposed to be? A little snack for Croc?" Deadshot commented his observation with a raised eyebrow, evidently not impressed with what he was seeing. The scaled creature in question scoffed, his beady eyes scrutinised her from top to bottom with distain.

"She wouldn't even be an appetizer." He rumbled out before he lost interest in her like everyone else.

The pinkette felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, feeling an intense stare boring into her. She didn't have to look to know that it was coming from the direction of the heavily tattooed man sitting by himself. Though, it didn't last long as she suppressed the urge to sigh in relief once the initial interest quickly passed on.

"Hey, isn't that the girl who wreaked havoc in the city, caused a few earthquakes a few months back?"

"It could be, didn't she had pink hair or something?" The whispers flowed freely amongst the soldiers, subtle glances thrown in her general area.

"No, she's probably just some slut who's taking the rap for someone else." Another guard smirked, knowing full well she could hear him along with the other inmates who watched on in mild curiosity. Though Sakura merely brushed it off, it wasn't the worst thing that was indirectly said about her. Whatever rumours that were circulating about her, she already knew that it was pretty unbelievable once you got a good look at Sakura. She didn't seem like the type to possess such monstrous strength but she never failed to utilise the innocent façade that was practically being created for her, it only made the shocked reactions all the sweeter to see.

"You hear that, pinkie? You're a _nobody_ here, hell you're the most likely to die in this mission because you're just a pathetic little girl thinking you're all that because you committed a crime." Although no-one moved to stop his train of verbal abuse, she could tell some of the men who travelled with her were trying to get him to shut up. But alas, idiots were always going to be dumb bastards. This guy was trying to rouse some kind of reaction from her, the coward who didn't have the balls to provoke her when he was sitting in the car with her.

"And she was calling for some dumbshit called Naruto in her sleep, what the fuck goes on in some people's heads when they name their kid I don't know. He's probably her pimp or something, or maybe that was Sasuke. She kept muttering lots of names, must be screwing them all—"

Suddenly, her patience snapped beyond its limit. She growled lowly, her jade orbs darkened until they neared a bottomless black. The pinkette ripped her handcuffs from her wrists, the metal device flying around in mismatched pieces. She didn't waste any time; her right fist was engulfed in a raging emerald as she flew towards the guard. He didn't even see it coming, by the time his face paled it was already too late to do anything.

The feeling as her fist collided with his face was beyond satisfying. She relished in the _cracking_ sound as he was sent soaring backwards to the other side until his back smashed into the ground, causing cracks to spread across the concreted courtyard. A stunned silence was left as the dust eventually settled as the last couple of seconds started to process through their minds, that a petite girl with bubble-gum coloured hair could cause as much damage as she had just demonstrated.

"The next person who pisses me off, a concession is going to the last thing you'll have to worry about." She calmly stated, not missing a beat though her eyes spoke volumes of the promise. It took a few moments before the rest seemed to snap back into reality, as some of the soldiers went to tend to their fallen colleague.

No-one made a move to touch her however, the stench of fear was practically radiating from them. She couldn't understand the thrill she felt from the violence she had just inflicted, but merely brushed it to the back of her mind for further inspection later on. Sakura paid them no attention as she walked over to the rest of the inmates, her face not giving away the inner turmoil that was internally bubbling up inside of her. She was mustering up the energy to overpower the tidal waves of anger that were exuding from her form.

Harley couldn't contain herself—not that she ever did, but she digressed—as she practically launched herself at Sakura. However, in her rage induced state she did not catch everything that the blonde said, she got the general message of a job well done. If it was even possible, the man with the odd accent was staring at her brazenly and full of wonder, as if he was seeing something mythical for the first time. But if she had the chance to know what exactly he was thinking, she would have immediately passed.

The rest seemed to give her looks of something akin to respect, but she wasn't convinced. It was far too early to be gaining their trust in the least bit, they were all criminals in their own right. It was ironic that there were the group of individuals she found herself working against in her missions. She had no doubt that they would stab her in the back when they thought she left her guard down.

They dug into their boxes without any hesitation, being reunited with the items that helped to create their image as villains. Sakura glanced at the box which was must smaller than the others, though it wasn't like she could have anticipated packing for a spontaneous trip to some alternative universe. Releasing a short breath, she simply joined in as she opened the lid.

In less than a millisecond, she scowled. If she could go back in time just to strangle her past self for leaving these clothes behind for her, she wouldn't hesitate. Though, it wasn't like she was in a position to complain since they were the only pieces of clothing she owned here other than the hideous orange jumpsuit she was more than happy to discard. Taking a sweeping glance from the peripheral of her eye, she could see the other inmates were occupied for the time being. She nearly took a double-take at the sight of the blonde lady stripping without a single care in the world whilst the men in the area shamelessly ogled her.

It wasn't like they were going to stop with watching the show in favour of looking at her, plus she needed to take advantage of the distraction. Without wasting a precious second, she pulled the shirt over her head and replaced it with the black fishnet top with a vibrant multi-coloured rectangular shape sowed in at the top with " _Beyond the Kawaii"_ printed. She had the to hold back the urge of gagging at the sheer cringe-worthy sentence by swapping the baggy pants for the demin shorts. The only redeemable thing about the whole outfit was that she still had her trusty knee length sandal boots. Whilst she was putting her weapons and scrolls into her pouch, feeling somewhat placated about having more than she expected to have.

"What's those papers for? Just in case you fancy drawing?" Harley tilted her head, popping her mallet on her shoulder as they walked over to the helicopter once they had been debriefed by Colonel Flag and Amanda Waller—the same woman who she had the displease of speaking to yesterday. Immediately her thoughts drew back to Sai, she never thought she would have ever admitted it but the thought made her smile slightly.

"Something like that," Was all she said, not feeling too comfortable about giving away too much information.

"Are you some kind of magician or an alien? That would explain your hair, unless its dyed like mine?" She continued to pile on the questions, much to the others' amusement since Sakura was very much like an open book when she didn't control her feelings as she tried to suppress a scowl.

"No, I'm a ninja. And this is my natural hair colour," She could already tell what the Aussie was going to ask next by the look on his face. "And if you ask me to prove it, I'll be more than happy to add another bruise to your face." To which, he merely held up his hands in surrender though the grin on his face spoke volumes.

"As much as finding out about pinkie has been an enthralling experience, she hasn't told us the basics like her name." Floyd raised an eyebrow at her, while the rest looked at her expectantly. They were probably all aware of the existence of each other not to mention they were well-established criminals, which would explain why they were brought together in the first place. Sakura, on the other hand, didn't even exist in this universe. She was just an outsider.

"To be fair, I don't even know any of your names." She shrugged her shoulders, to which she had instantly wished she had not mentioned in the first place. Of course, Harley was the first to jump straight into the introductions with the others reluctantly following her lead.

It was only when they stared bluntly at her that she supplied her name. "Haruno."

"That doesn't sound like a first name." The tattooed man, who she learned was called Diablo, had a soft voice. It only occurred to her the sheer resemblance Diablo had with Gaara, that neither of them possessed eyebrows. Upon that thought, she instantly quashed the urge to burst out laughing.

"That's because it isn't." She replied back sarcastically, moving faster to board the helicopter in an attempt to end the conversation. However, she found herself being gripped tightly on her arm by Harley who seemed to be in a world of her own yet refused to leave her go. _She's not as air-headed as she comes across._

Sakura opted to sit at the end of the row, sitting on the other side of Floyd—who she knew wouldn't be bothered to ask her questions. If he was annoyed, he didn't make it obvious and that was acceptable to her. The less friendly she acted with these guys, the better. Once they were all seated, there seemed to be one more approaching. She blinked, noting it was a dark haired female.

 _With the amount of testosterone, it's certainly not a terrible thing._ She mused to herself. It was only when she heard her native language that she snapped back to reality, missing the tension between the assassin and Harley. But before she knew it, she switched back without even thinking.

" _Looks like we're stuck with these lunatics. If I lose my sanity like them, just do me a favour and kill me quickly._ " There was a moment of shock which quickly shifted into a slight quirk from the woman's lips, but otherwise gave no other indication that she heard.

With a satisfied nod, she leaned back and closed her eyes. Blissfully ignoring the looks that were exchanged over her head caused by the curiosity invoking pinkette.

* * *

 **A/N:** I seriously can't tell you guys how weird it feels to be writing Sakura centric stories again, but when Suicide Squad came out I felt compelled to write _something_. Initally I wanted this to be a one-shot, as I didn't want to go through the plot of the SS film, but I may just post drabbles/imagines if you guys wanted anything in particular for me to write that includes Sakura! But I guess I'll see how it goes, I've also got a Harry Potter/Naruto crossover but set in the Marauder era if you guys wanted to see the first chapter or whatever, it's literally nowhere finished so it looks like a mess of mismatched drabbles at the moment.

Anyway, that's pretty much it from me! Hope you liked it!


	2. Chapter 2

**If You Can't Beat Them**

 **Chapter Two**

* * *

It wasn't an accident that Sakura was practically dropped into this universe, yet that didn't make it any less of an inconvenience.

Inner Sakura liked being put on the backburner of her host's mind, to do as she pleased. It made her even more happier when she didn't have to go along with the charade of being a boy crazed fiend, especially when the pinkette grew out that of that annoying phase.

Thank _fuck_ for small miracles.

She wasn't some kind of non-human entity that had been implanted into the pink haired girl when she was just a babe like that fox demon container. But, the only people who were really aware of her presence, and what she was capable of only included the short list of her host's parents and the medic-nin who were in charge during the pinkette's birth. It was a known secret within the Haruno clan of her existence.

While she wasn't some kind of chakra powerhouse, she was fortunate that Sakura was someone who practiced good control. However, the only con of that particular ability was that it was often overshadowed by the needs of her teammates. They came first, always. While her host seemed to steadily become restless with the lack of activities to keep herself busy, she on the other hand had grown bored and as a result shifted into a dormant state.

Though, as aforementioned, she wasn't particularly complaining over that. If she wasn't needed, then she was more than contented in taking the backseat whilst her host got on with her life with no real assistance was required.

However, given the abrupt change in circumstances, she found herself being thrust into the firing line. _Literally_.

It must have been a sub-conscious defence mechanism for her to be able to fully take over her host's body, the only other time this happened was during her fight with Ino. She took a sweeping glance of her surroundings, heavy clouds of smoke billowed around her wildly with debris and dust sprinkling over her. It was only after her vision started to clear and when the ground gradually ceased shaking that she noted that she was nestled in a deep crater, leading her to assume that she must have fallen from a considerable height. As far as she could tell, the level of destruction as result of the impact had crippled the surrounding local vicinity.

Inner looked upwards to the sky with narrowed green eyes. _How cliché, you son of a bitch._

"You there, put your hands up where we can see them!"

She was cut from her inward cursing to see a line of armed men pointing their machines directly at her. The pinkette did a quick headcount, tilting her head to the side in contemplation. There were roughly just over ten surrounding her, anticipating further orders to potentially shoot her if needed. The longer she focused it seemed clear to her that she was near the outskirts of a nearby city with no charka signatures anywhere.

"I'm not going to ask another time, girl. Hands up or we'll shoot you down!"

The green eyed girl merely complied with his demand, her hands raised beside her head. She watched on as the leader, she presumed, motioned for his men to follow as they approached her in caution. She noted

The brunt lifted some kind of device to the bottom half of his face. "I can confirm that we have identified the energy source." He paused for a moment, extracting his hand from his side pocket to show some kind of injection. Upon seeing that, she felt her left eye twitch in annoyance. "Roger that. We'll bring her in."

Though, she had no intention of going along with this charade. Inner waited impatiently until they were close enough, her poker face carefully remained intact. It was apparent that no further communication was necessary, with the leader keeping a close eye on her.

She merely stared back, black spots slowly consumed the sclera of her eyes until it fully bordered the green irises. He furrowed his eyebrows, faltering in his step until he stopped. Inner inclined her head, not breaking her stare for a second.

"Everyone stand down," He called out the command, a slight glaze casted over his eyes.

"Sir, we have orders to bring the girl in. The boss is not going to be happy if we come back empty handed—"

It wasn't until he took out his gun from its holster, raised it towards her that his men started to question his motives. However, they didn't get a chance to question him before he pivoted on his heel and fired away until the solider who spoke up could only stare helplessly at his leader. A puddle of blood already starting to leak from his fatal wound, the life in his eyes snuffed out in an instant. In a matter of seconds, he collapsed from the single gunshot. It was only after the period of suffocating silence that he lowered the gun to his side.

"Anyone else who disobeys my orders will join him, any takers?" There was a moment of shuffling amongst the group, their grips on the weapons slackened as startled stares were exchanged between them. They struggled to process what had just happened before their eyes. However, none moved to argue back in aid of their fallen comrade.

The pinkette blinked slowly, a default expression taking up the vacant space on her face while her eyes drank in the sight of fresh death. She clicked her tongue in annoyance, while she tried to avoid unnecessary bloodshed when possible, but even she had her limitations when it came to controlling their minds. Besides, that self-righteous idiot shouldn't have opened his mouth in the first place.

She stepped out of the crater and faced the city in the far distance. The petite girl moved her head to the side, relishing in the various _cracks_ as she continued to stretch her stiff limbs.

"We will escort you back to the city, ma'am."

"That won't be necessary." Not even sparing him a glance, she lifted up two fingers before her figure was consumed by smoke. It took him a moment or two before he was in control of his own mind, his gaze losing the sinister glint in his eyes. After a bemused glance around, he gritted his teeth with a stream of curses escaped his lips as he dragged a hand down his face.

There were two things that he was sure of right now. One that Waller wasn't going to like this new development, the other was that she was gonna have his head for this.

* * *

Being strapped inside of a flying machine filled with strangers—with at least half who occupied her side being identified as well-known criminals—wasn't a situation that she ever thought she would be in. She felt at a disadvantage, not knowing the full extent of what they were capable of doing. Though, they seemed harmless enough, she could not detect any imposing energies from them—aside from the silent man with the abundance of tattoos. However, it was far too early to be underestimating any of them, that was the kind of thinking that would easily get her killed.

While she had no intentions of socialising—though that seemed to be the consensus in the near silent helicopter she couldn't help but feel intrigued by Katana. She could sense the presences lurking within her sword, their souls stripped away from the physical counterparts and forced to remain there for eternity. The solemn ravenette sat beside Flag with an alertness in her posture, not relaxing for a single second. Not that she could blame her, if Sakura was on this kind of mission back in her world— _perhaps in some warped parallel universe_ —she would have been assigned to keep the criminals in check.

Sakura's eyes hardened at the reminder that kept being displayed to her that she was no longer in her world; it was almost as if a bucket of ice water was dumped on her every time reality dawned on her. While the day's events were a blur, at the back of her mind she could not easily forget that the chances of her returning were slim to nothing. As a wave of sorrow washed over her, she inwardly shook it off as she tried to brush off the sharp feeling of sadness. This wasn't the time to be emotional. As her eyes took a sweeping glance around her surroundings, she didn't need any further reminders that this wasn't some sick dream or genjutsu.

With each year that passed as she got older, she no longer felt the presence of the voice that rang through her head. It was a good thing that she was able to filter out her thoughts before they escaped and could not be taken back so easily. Inner was always more of a subconscious part of her, known to be boy crazy—more specifically Sasuke or any pretty boy for that matter. It was only once she had grown out of that stage in her life that she seemed to suddenly disappear, as if she was never part of her in the first place. Sakura acknowledged that while she wasn't the best company to have around looking back in hindsight, she wasn't popular in the slightest growing up.

She stood out, but in all the wrong ways. With her vivid bubble-gum locks that were an eyesore to look at, bright green eyes that were glazed with an overwhelming sense of naivety of the reality of the world she lived in and let's not forget about her forehead—which seemed to be the hot topic amongst the kids when she was much younger who seemed to relish on picking on her imperfections.

However, she could sense something different once she awoke in this world. She could sense something darker that was hiding beneath the thin veil of darkness in her that she thought she did not possess. She was supposed to be part of the good guys, yet there was an unspeakable desire to cause destruction and chaos bubbling up inside of her. She tried to brush off the foreign feeling, thinking she must have mistaken it or something else. That wasn't her, she tried to convince herself.

Sakura could be described as many things, temperamental being one of them, yet she unquestionably wasn't a villain. It wasn't in her nature, if anything that was the polar opposite of who she strived to be. She wasn't perfect, she was well aware of that. Looking back on when she first started out as a shinobi, the qualities that should have been implemented were often forgotten. There were times where she could not help but doubt herself, the fact that she could not defend herself in battle were sufficient in making her question whether she was even qualified to be called a shinobi.

She found herself almost expecting for someone to say that there had been a mistake. That she wasn't meant to be in Team 7. She was the odd one out of the group, the sore thumb for everyone else to see. When she was twelve and freshly graduated from the Academy, that Sakura had no idea of the horrors that were lurking outside the gates of Konoha until they were assigned their first official mission. The pinkette was, without fail, always pushed to the side to safety whilst Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi sensei were fighting for their lives and the sake of completing the mission. She reached a point of no longer wanting to a liability. She didn't want to be seen by her enemies as a vulnerable weakling that could be used to gamble for their lives in exchange for hers.

There were moments when she wished she could go back to the genin days and take her training more seriously. Hell, her teachers could not praise her enough for her high academic grades, but being book smart was never going to be enough in the end. On the other hand, she had to consider the timings of it all, Tsunade sensei proved to be a vital contributor in helping her train to be stronger. Although she was a sadistic teacher who was prone to being violent, the fact that she must have seen some kind of potential within her helped to maintain the resilience to keep on going, to always strive to better herself and improve.

She was brought back to reality when she could vaguely hear Harley nattering away in the background, there wasn't something quite right about that one. She couldn't put her finger on what it was exactly, as if there was a screw loose in that one or maybe more. She seemed to relish in the promise of adding to the body count of this mission. Speaking of this ambiguous mission–it was more of a superhero gig than anything else, so it didn't make sense to draw a group of individuals together who committed crimes that only benefited them with the expectation that they would simply work together without a complaint. She couldn't squash the unsettling emotion that swelled up in her gut that something wasn't right about this, call it intuition or maybe it was just a generally shitty situation anyway so nothing good was going to come out of this.

From the corner of her eye, she could tell one of the soldiers was shooting her a death glare, at first she brushes it off with a vague understanding that he must hate her like the others. However, there's an overwhelming wave of hatred that radiated from him whenever his eyes landed on her – which were much more evident than when he looked at the rest of the criminals she was saddled with. The pinkette couldn't understand the pinch of guilt that washed over her but merely pushed it to the back of her mind.

As they flew over the city in disarray, isolated fires roaring with life in pockets all over as clouds of smoke fuelled the air in the abandoned place. She could only wonder who could have caused such havoc, mulling over a plan in her head over possibly sending a few clones over to check.

"Look at the pretty lights!" Harley cooed as she watched out of the window, though the conversation that soon followed merely became background noise. Though, that didn't mean to say that Sakura wasn't paying attention. It was vital that she grabbed all the information that she could get her hands on, being in the weakest position of not knowing anything—including her somewhat quirky makeshift 'teammates', if that's what they're supposed to be anyway.

Suddenly, the voices were cut short when it soon become apparent that there was an attack being aimed at the helicopter with a rapid succession of gun fire. It didn't take long for sparks to fly before the damage caused the machine to be thrown off course as it was sent downwards until it tumbled over, sending the occupants to spin for a good minute or so before the helicopter abruptly fell on its side with gravity pulling it back to the ground. Smoke immediately flooded the interior, the criminals stepped out as it was merely a slightly bumpy ride.

Soon, they were all walking through the deserted streets. Sakura taking up the rear as she observed her surroundings, aware of that fact that she was being surveyed by nearby soldiers who gave off the impression of being stationed to watch her. She was vaguely surprised to note the one who practically shot her a stink eye throughout the journey over was amongst the few to watch over her, but thought it was best to think nothing of it.

She had noticed Digger and Slipknot speaking in hushed tones, it didn't take a genius to know the topic of the conversation. Sakura had caught onto the words 'mind games' until it was drawn back to the bomb 'conspiracy' that the former gave off the impression of being dead set that it was merely just to act as a deterrent rather than taking the form of a real threat to their lives. The latter of whom she was vaguely aware of, though just like the rest of them—she would rather keep interactions to a strict minimum.

The majority of the soldiers were at the front, their weapons held at the ready for any sign of enemies. Within the span of a minute after the pair nodded at one another—she assumed that was supposed to be the cue to go—the tall scruff had attempted to create a distraction, punching the nearest solider with his choice of weapon thrown towards the dark haired assassin whilst Slipknot did not hesitate on orchestrating his escape plan.

While there was a marginal chance she could get caught, however given this was a golden opportunity that she may not see again she thought it was best to make a small exception against the self-preservation instincts she had. Sakura decided to use this distraction to her advantage, producing a few clones to scout the area. Making sure that no eyes were aimed in her general direction, she gingerly slipped into an alleyway and wandered just enough so that the smoke would not be close enough to alert anyone yet not too far that she couldn't just slip back into their company.

With the hand formations being completed in quick succession, the clones appeared in clouds of smoke. With an exchanged nod of mutual understanding, no words were necessary. In less than a millisecond, she returned back just in time to witness Slipknot's head being blown. Needless to say, he evidently didn't get very far before the bomb nestled in his neck was activated. Given by the paled look on Boomerang's face as he grimaced at the sight, it seemed that the theory he was trying to work out was proved right there and then. Though, he quickly got over it as he eyed up the silent Katana in an appraising manner.

Death wasn't something she was unfamiliar with. It was an inevitable part of life, a fate that no one could run away from. It was also fundamental to integrate into strategies from her experience with past missions—take Sasori for example, for one thing that egotistical bastard definitely had it coming. But he was a murderer who did not have a single trace of empathy or remorse for his actions nor for the devastating aftermath that never failed to follow, then again to be a member of the infamous Akatsuki–it was a sort of unspoken requirement to be a sociopath in some form or another.

It was a no-brainer to see how Flag was egging on the others, to gauge their reactions as he asked who would be next to have the bombs in their necks triggered. Though it was only when it was made apparent that he was making a quick headcount that he noted that she wasn't anywhere near the others. He looked ready to burst a vein until she wavered through as if she had never left.

He pointed directly at her. "Don't think this doesn't apply to you too, kid. Stick with the rest where I can see you otherwise you'll end up wishing you listened when you had the chance." Then he turned on his heel and motioned for the rest to follow, not waiting—or caring for that matter—to hear her response. Katana moved away from Boomerang at the first chance she got, motioning her head for him to listen to Flag's orders as she disregarded his pick-up line.

"We need to get you a bell or something," Floyd commented airy, giving her a look that she barely had the time to decipher.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She kept her gaze straight and her face cautiously composed, though she couldn't help but slightly recognise the tone that Kakashi sensei would sometimes use on her when she was younger. But he didn't say anymore on the conversation before he moved over to speak with Harley.

"I'm gonna kill him." She heard him mutter, the conversation didn't take long before a few other people were added to the murder plot. Though, she couldn't find it in herself to take it personally that he evidently didn't trust her enough to reveal his murder scheme. She was a nobody in this world, there were no background checks available because there wasn't any information to begin with. Thus, she was a complete and utter stranger to these people.

But she wasn't one of them. And that's something that damn well going to stay that way as long as she could help it.

* * *

A/N: So, this is kinda where Inner Sakura becomes OOC, but I wanted to incorporate her into this. Also, key to note that the Sakura I'm using in this is at the early Shippuden stage, pretty much around the time Sasori is defeated and the end of that arc. Just because I'm more comfortable writing about this Sakura that I'm more familiar with. Plus, there'd no doubt be so many canon errors if I even attempted writing the present Sakura so I'm not gonna risk it. (Sorry to anyone who wanted an older Sakura.)

So, there wasn't much interaction just lots of thought processing, so it's not all that interesting unfortunately for those who prefer dialogue but there's more planned out in future chapters. It looks like there might be one more chapter or two, depending on if I'll split it on the actual SS plot. Then afterwards, it might just be drabbles, maybe even a side-plot for a marvel crossover if I could even make it work. Or just make a separate fan-fic about it, who knows. I might wait until Justice League comes out to see whether they'd play any part in this, or it could just stay exclusively to SS.

But lastly I just wanted to say thanks for the support so far, I really do appreciate it!


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